MC: Chill
by Seadragon
Summary: When a student vanishes from the school, its up to four other students to find him, before the unimaginable happens. [The beginning of The Marauders Chronicles]
1. The Crisp

A letter was clutched tightly in his fist; a cold wind blew across the tower. His face was pale and tearstained. He took long strides to the tower's edge. Over the wind's howl, he didn't hear the footsteps behind him.  
  
He climbed to the towers top wall and stood on the top. He let the letter fall from his clutched fist and it blew behind him. The night sky was dark and starless. All the students were in their common rooms working or talking.  
  
He took a deep breath and screamed a war cry. He launched himself from the tower in a perfect dive. A voice behind him shrieked.  
  
"JAMES!"  
  
He grinned recklessly, there wasn't a person in the world that could stop him now. This was all his. He flipped and dove into a spiral. He somersaulted and landed lightly on the grass.  
  
Lily screamed again. He could hear the other students shouting and running towards the tower. They had all heard his war cry, echoing through the entire castle.  
  
The professors would arrive soon and demand to know what had happened. He transformed easily and ran into the forest. 


	2. The Cool

Up at the castle, everything was falling apart.  
  
"I swear I saw him jump! I didn't watch, I was looking at this, he dropped it!" Lily protested, showing the crumpled letter. No body could be found on the grounds. Sirius was crying shamelessly in the background, Remus had one arm around Sirius, tears in his eyes threatening to fall. Peter was leaning against a wall looking delirious; no one could get him to respond.  
  
Madam Pomfrey took one look at the remaining Marauders and tried to drag them to the hospital wing. Peter was too out of it to fight, Remus protested furiously but the other teachers insisted. No one even tried to move Sirius; they all remembered the Quidditch Match.  
  
Lily was talking to Dumbledore, telling him what had happened. He nodded every now and again and looked very thoughtful. Eventually he came to a decision.  
  
"Alright, Miss Evans, Sirius, come with me to my office. Minerva, I'm going to need Remus and Peter in my office as well. I don't care what you have to do to get them there, it is essential."  
  
Sirius nodded numbly, tears streaming down his face. Lily also nodded; Professor McGonagall just rushed off down the tower stairs and through the hallways. 


	3. The Cold

"We must find James Potter." Professor Dumbledore announced.  
  
Sirius stopped crying immediately. "You mean he's not dead?"  
  
Dumbledore smiled wryly. "If what Miss Evans told me is correct, I believe he is far from dead Sirius."  
  
All the teachers along with Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily were gathered in Dumbledore's office. Professor McGonagall looked bewildered.  
  
"But Albus, Miss Evans saw James jump from the tower." She protested.  
  
Professor Dumbledore held up a hand to the other teachers talking. "Miss Evans, please tell them what you saw." Lily gulped and nodded.  
  
"I, I was trying to find Pot- I mean, James, to tell him off for stuffing my bag with dung bombs and charming it to sing." Professor McGonagall chuckled. "He went out on the Astronomy Tower and I saw he was crying. He was holding a letter in his hand." Sirius saw the teachers exchange knowing looks. "He climbed up on the edge and before I could stop him, he dive. But not before he yelled, you all heard him." Sirius and Remus nodded bleakly.  
  
"Professor, what does the letter say? I didn't look incase it was private." Lily asked quietly. Dumbledore looked grave.  
  
"Miss Evans, did you receive the Daily Prophet today? His voice was somber.  
  
Lily shook her head as did the Marauders. "No, but neither did James."  
  
"Mr and Mrs Potter were killed by Voldemort." Lily, Sirius, Remus, and Peter gasped. "But he was aiming for James, he fortunately forgot that James would be at Hogwarts." He looked at the teachers.  
  
"The reason I believe James is indeed alive is Miss Evans said he dove. Remember why we are protecting him?" Professor McGonagall gasped.  
  
"You don't think."  
  
"I do Minerva."  
  
The remaining Marauders and Lily looked lost. They hadn't known Voldemort was after James, or that the Hogwarts staff had been protecting him, or that he was hiding something else.  
  
"If I tell you, you are not allowed to tell anyone else. It could mean his life." Dumbledore said seriously. The four nodded.  
  
"James Potter has devastating powers. They have never been seen before and are rivaled by nothing, not even Voldemort. That is why Voldemort cannot let him grow up. He hasn't learnt all that he can, because there are no limits."  
  
The Marauders and Lily were speechless, but not for long. "So is that why when Snape insulted his parents last month, the sky stormed over and Snape nearly got struck by lightning?" Remus asked. They had wondered about that, it seemed to be too much of an amazing coincidence to be just that, a coincidence.  
  
Professor Dumbledore nodded. "He cannot control his powers when he is in a temper, they run wild. If he truly wanted to, he could strike someone down, dead, in seconds. Just the thought would be the end." Peter looked terrified but Lily looked confused.  
  
"So, you're saying he is the most powerful person alive?" She asked.  
  
"No," Dumbledore corrected. "I'm saying that he is the most powerful, ever." 


End file.
